THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, a blistering fathers & sons drama from 2012, is set in New York. It’s not NYC for a change, but upstate in Schenectady, a town whose Iroquois translated name serves double duty, as director Derek Cianfrance offered “because it has a literal meaning – there is a clearing that characters visit on-screen – and other, more metaphorical meanings; it’s where you can find your demons, or your destiny, or both.” Along with his stellar job of directing, he co-wrote the script with Ben Coccio (Zero Day) and Darius Marder (Sound Of Metal). Their ideas and choices were blessed with a can’t lose cast & crew.

Tracing two families interconnected by crossed fates and blood (some shared, some shed), the linear storylines begin in 1994. ‘Luke Glanton’ (Ryan Gosling) works carnivals as a daredevil motorcyclist. After one show, he bumps into his ex, ‘Romina Gutierrez’ (Eva Mendes), and soon discovers that they have a baby boy, who she intends to raise with new boyfriend ‘Kofi Kancam’ (Mahershala Ali), a steadier type than Luke. Determined to provide for the child (and possibly win a doubtful Romina back), Luke takes his skill on a motorcycle out of carnival shows and into a crime spree, robbing banks in partnership with experienced thief ‘Robin Van Derk Hook’ (Ben Mendelsohn). One bank heist too many results in a furious pursuit from rookie policeman Avery Cross’ (Bradley Cooper). This then sews in another thread, with fellow cop ‘Deluca’ (Ray Liotta) pressing Avery into becoming party to coercing Romina. The story then moves fifteen years ahead: Avery has moved out of police work and into a run for the state Attorney General. As this goes down, his disaffected teenage son ‘AJ’ (Emory Cohen) befriends loner ‘Jason’ (Dane DeHaan) at high school. The young guys are unaware that they are linked thru their fathers—Jason’s dad was Luke. Choices birth consequences.

The casting couldn’t be better, the characterizations superbly sketched. Gosling cruises on a McQueen vibe, Cooper registers inner conflict in minute calibrations, Ali essays sincerity. It’s a career high point for Mendes, given a chance to go beyond alluring to tragic, Mendelsohn a pitch-perfect white trash loser, Liotta the sort of Ray we love to be afraid of. Though playing sixteen-year-olds, Cohen and DeHaan were in their early 20’s—you’d never guess.

High marks go to the cinematography from Sean Bobbitt (clobbered unconscious filming the insane motorcycle cage action) and to the ethereal score from Mike Patton, fairly described by one critic as “intoxicating”.

140 absorbing minutes, with Bruce Greenwood (you can never go wrong with this actor), Rose Byrne (Avery’s wife ‘Jennifer’), Harris Yulin (Avery’s father), Robert Clohessy and Olga Merediz.